Chilean authorities in Valparaíso are considering two options to expand the city’s port facilities, according to a report in The Santiago Times.
Although both plans propose the remodelling of the port’s second docking station (or Terminal 2) and would involve expanding the dock southeast towards the bay, their costs and considerations differ in various ways.
Option A suggests the construction of two new docks; one that would extend nearly 670m parallel to the coast and the other extending perpendicular 290m.
This plan would include three total docking stations, add 15.8ha of land to the port, and would amplify the dock’s transfer capacity to 10m tonnes.
Option B proposes the construction of only one large dock parallel to the coast, measuring 980m.
This dock would also include three total docking stations, add 14.6ha of land to the port, and allow 9m tonnes of transfer capacity.
“We don't have a preference between the two,” said Germán Correa, chairman of the Port of Valparaíso.
“It all depends on the size of the business model that we want to define. Of the two models that we have proposed, neither has a spectacularly greater advantage.”
Mr Correa calculated that the port expansion would cost between US$280m and US$320m, with Option B the more expensive of the two plans since it requires more physical space.
The Port of Valparaíso is one of Chile’s leading fruit terminals, handling well over half of the country’s fresh fruit exports each year.
In 2007, the facility handled more than 1.32m tonnes of fruit, a figure which most industry leaders believe will be equalled or exceeded over the course of this year.
